Award win was an inspiration to Donna

Jul 4 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal

THE boss of a County Durham logistics company says she has been driven to tackle new challenges after winning the region’s biggest award for female entrepreneurs.

Donna Wilson won the top prize at the North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2008 in recognition of her success in starting her transport and distribution business Teesside Logistics and building it into a £2.5m enterprise in seven years.

She was praised for her ambition and drive in leading the Newton Aycliffe company to growth in a competitive and male-dominated industry.

Ms Wilson, who won the North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Susan Dobson Award for Entrepreneurship, urged others to enter the competition.

She said: "Winning the Susan Dobson Award is an honour I will never forget. To be counted amongst the nominees and previous winners was a place I would never have put myself, but it made me look at my business and myself in a completely different perspective, giving me confidence to take on new and even more exciting challenges.

"My business and team have benefited hugely but the biggest change I have seen is how I conduct my business due to learning and changing my outlook following meeting new people and hearing different points of view that I would have never had access to previously. I urge anyone to enter, I never expected to be short listed let alone win, so you just never know!"

The North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards were developed and organised by Women Into the Network (WIN) and are sponsored by Business Link. The Susan Dobson Memorial Fund sponsors the Susan Dobson Award for Entrepreneurship.

Alastair MacColl, chief executive of Business & Enterprise North East, which delivers the Business Link service said: "Our sponsorship of this event underlines the emphasis Business Link is placing on supporting women entrepreneurs.

"The North East is already a great place for women to start or grow a business. At Business Link we quite simply want to make our region the best place in Europe when it comes to producing female entrepreneurs and helping them to succeed.

"This event is a unique opportunity to recognise some of the fabulous woman entrepreneurs in our region and celebrate their achievements. I am sure it will help to inspire another generation of successful entrepreneurs and we will be waiting to help them make it happen."

Business Link also sponsors the new recognition award ‘One to Watch’ which will recognise the achievements and potential of women thinking of starting a business and who are a maximum of 12 months away from trading.

There are seven award categories on offer, including the Susan Dobson Award for Entrepreneurship sponsored by the Susan Dobson Memorial Fund, Best New Business, sponsored by One North East, and Best Creative Business, sponsored by Arts Council England, North East.

Places can be booked via the events calendar on the WIN website www.womenintothenetwork.co.uk, or by emailing Lisa Crombie at lisa@womenintothenetwork.co.uk